Posted on 06/12/2020 6:15:18 AM PDT by Red Badger
When photographer Kristian Laine went out to the Great Barrier Reef near Lady Elliot Island to photograph some turtles, manta rays, and sharks, he wasn't expecting to stumble across the only known pink manta ray in the world.
"I had never even heard of a pink manta and when I first saw it, I thought my camera was playing up," he told ScienceAlert.
"Only later that night I saw a photo of a pink manta on the restaurant's notice board and thought it was a joke until I rushed to check the belly patterns in my camera."
The pink reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi) was first spotted in 2015, where diver Ryan Jeffery took some photos of the pink-tinged beauty while on a dive.
The mature male caused a stir at the time, and was named Inspector Clouseau after the bumbling inspector from the Pink Panther.
The Inspector is around 3.3 metres (11 feet), and has been elusive in the five years since it was first noticed.
Although locals are now well aware of him, the pink manta has only been seen around 10 times. Despite how shy he is, scientists from the research group Project Manta are still on the case investigating what causes the vibrant pink colour; they took a small biopsy in 2016 to try to discover more.
"There has not been a thorough investigation into diet or stable isotope analysis, but given the stability of the white 'birthmark' and pink colour over time we think diet can be ruled out," explains ecologist Asia Haines from Project Manta.
"The working theory is that it is just a different and very unique expression of the melanin, but that is still to be confirmed."
But Laine is just glad he got to experience such a rare sight.
"Overall it was very calm and just let me be there," he said.
"Later when I realised what I had witnessed I was stoked - I just couldn't believe how rare a moment I had experienced."
1956......
A clear case of racism
Mr Turtle: “Totally gnarly dude”
My first car- a ‘56 Buick, light blue over dark blue, not tricked out like that one.
Hope he remains reclusive.
On the barby?
CRIKEY!
I wonder if a person would sh*t pink? ( LOL)
Always a good idea to stick with the solid evidence.
-----
There are no degrees of uniqueness.
Steve Irwin found out that you don’t mess with that species, pink or not. It’s not a matter of what you put on the barbie, it’s the barb the ray puts in ya that counts.
I can see why they can be lethal.
This man from Perth could have been killed, but the thrust just missed his vitals and hit him in the side near hip:
Lucky guy!
Source: https://au.news.yahoo.com/perth-fisherman-shares-graphic-photos-of-stingray-injury-035555523.html
A barb for the barbie!
That was a barbed comment, a very Nerkian literary device.
I saw this the other day on Amazon Prime cable TV.
Mermaids: The Body Found (2011)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1816585/
If you get the chance, I think you would enjoy it.
The movie has been reviled and repressed, but it actually is interesting speculative science.
Plot Keywords: fake documentary | cryptozoology | mermaid | mockumentary
honestly?
That’s what happened to Steve Irwin, it struck him in the heart.
Startling picture yes? But I was hoping for Jaw Dropping.
Perhaps another time.
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